NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department
of DefenseNo. 1253-04IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 6, 2004Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703)
692-2000 Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the
death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock, 20, of Maple
Shade, New Jersey, died December 3, 2004 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when he was clearing
a route and an improvised explosive device detonated. Mahlenbrock
was assigned to the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light),
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

For further information related to this release,
contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
Services set for soldier killed in IraqBy PAUL LEAKAN AND DANIELLE CAMILLICourtesy of the Burlington County Times9 December 2004

MAPLE SHADE, NEW JERSEY - Funeral services
for U.S. Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock, who was killed in Iraq on
Friday, will be held here Sunday and Monday before the township native
is laid to rest Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Family and friends may call Sunday from 5 to
9 p.m. at the Inglesby-Givnish Funeral Home, 600 E. Main St. in Maple Shade.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church,
26 Forklanding Road.

Mahlenbrock will be buried with full military
honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Mahlenbrock, 20, was killed when an improvised
explosive device detonated while he was clearing a route in Iraq, according
to the U.S. Department of Defense.

A graduate of Maple Shade High School, Mahlenbrock
was a combat engineer who cleared roads and swept mines with the Army's
65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Schofield
Barracks in Hawaii.

He is also survived by his father, Russell
Mahlenbrock; brothers Chris, Andrew and Darek; and his stepmother, Elizabeth.

The Maple Shade Veterans of Foreign War Post
2445 will pay tribute to Mahlenbrock by serving as an honor guard at the
services, said John Radie, past post commander. The U.S. Army also will
provide an honor guard.

"We are doing whatever we can for the family,"
Radie said yesterday. "He was a vet and he was overseas serving his country
when he was killed. He died too young and we want to give him full military
honors."

Soldiers' Angels, a Nevada-based nonprofit
organization that seeks to support U.S. military personnel and their families,
is still attempting to convince country music star Toby Keith to personally
sing "American Soldier" during Mahlenbrock's funeral.

Mahlenbrock requested that the song be played
during his funeral in a letter he wrote to his fellow squad members July
1, 2004.

Viktoria Carter, director of public relations
for Soldiers' Angels, said she has been in contact with Keith's managers
about the proposal.

Carter said she and other members of Soldiers'
Angels have already begun calling country-and-western radio stations in
various parts of the United States to request that they play "American
Soldier" at 1 p.m. Wednes-day.

The song would be dedicated to Mahlenbrock.

"This family story has touched so many different
people," Carter said. "...There's a lot of people rooting for this family."

Condolences may be sent to the family in care
of the Inglesby-Givnish Funeral Home.

MAPLE SHADE, NEW JERSEY - A candlelight vigil
in memory of hometown hero U.S. Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock is
scheduled tonight at 7 at the municipal complex on Stiles Avenue.

Mahlenbrock, 20, died December 3, 2004, in
Iraq when a roadside bomb detonated while he was clearing a route in the
city of Kirkuk.

He was a combat engineer with the 65th Engineer
Battalion, 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii and had been in Iraq
since January.

Mahlenbrock grew up in the township and was
a 2002 graduate of Maple Shade High School. His father and three brothers
still live in Maple Shade.

"The vigil really was spontaneous," Township
Manager George Haeuber said yesterday. "The members of Township Council
really wanted to recognize David Mahlen-brock as a resident who contributed
to his community and his country."

He said candles would be provided.

Meanwhile, Soldiers' Angels, a Nevada-based
nonprofit organization that supports U.S. military personnel and their
families, was unable to convince country music star Toby Keith to personally
sing "American Soldier" during Mahlen-brock's funeral.

Mahlenbrock requested that the song be played
during his funeral in a letter he wrote to his fellow squad members July
1.

Tami Kimball, media director for Soldiers'
Angels, said Keith's managers said the singer sets aside this time of the
year to spend with his family.

Services for Mahlenbrock will be held in Maple
Shade tomorrow and Monday before the soldier is laid to rest Wednesday
at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Fallen Army veteran rememberedBy JASON HARRISCourtesy of the Burlington County Times

MAPLE SHADE, NEW JERSEY - Friends and family
of fallen Army Specialist David Mahlenbrock gathered last night at a funeral
home to remember a man who one mourner said "would do anything for you."

"There wasn't a bad bone in his body," said
township resident Ron Socha, 22, who was on the wrestling team with Mahlenbrock
when they attended Maple Shade High School.

Mahlenbrock, a 20-year-old combat engineer
with the Army's 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, died December
3, 2004, when an improvised explosive device exploded while he was clearing
a road in Kirkuk, Iraq.

Mourners passed through Inglesby-Givnish Funeral
Home last night, paying their final respects to the fallen serviceman.

Gina Capate, 33, of Maple Shade said one of
her sisters dates one of Mahlenbrock's best friends, a Marine stationed
in Iraq. Her youngest sister, Brittani Capate, 13, said Mahlenbrock would
come back to their house on Halloween, and the two would trade candy.

"He was a guy who would do anything for you,"
Gina Capate said. "He just a kind-hearted person."

Mahlenbrock's funeral service will be at 11
a.m. today at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 26 Forklanding Road, Maple
Shade. The Maple Shade Veterans of Foreign War Post 2445 will serve as
honor guard at the funeral, and the Army also will provide an honor guard.

Mahlenbrock will be buried with full military
honors at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Virginia.

Family tearfully fulfills Army soldier's last
wishesBy Jennifer MorozCourtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Army Specialist David Mahlenbrock had a special
request should he die in the line of duty. In a letter to his fellow soldiers
in July, the young combat engineer asked that Toby Keith's song "American
Soldier" be played at his funeral.

It was a wish no one ever wanted to contemplate.

Yesterday his family tearfully granted it.

Keith's song echoed through Holy Trinity Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Mahlenbrock's native Maple Shade, a sound track to the
life that hundreds gathered to remember.

And I will always do my duty no matter what
the priceI've counted up the cost, I know the sacrificeOh, and I don't want to die for youBut if dyin's asked of meI'll bear that cross with honor'Cause freedom don't come free.

The words couldn't drown out the heaving sobs
that filled the Burlington County church as family, friends and strangers
mourned the death of a young soldier, husband and father.

Mahlenbrock, 20, whose job was clearing routes
to ensure the safe passage of fellow soldiers, died December 3, 2004, when
a bomb detonated near his humvee just outside Kirkuk, Iraq.

Yesterday, as Mahlenbrock's song played, his
older brother, Christopher, 21, an Army reservist who helped carry the
flag-draped coffin, wrapped his arm around younger brother Andrew, 16.

Mahlenbrock's 19-year-old widow, Melissa, cuddled
his 11-week-old daughter, Kadence, bundled in tiny black clothes in honor
of a father she'll never know.

In a music-filled ceremony punctuated by biblical
readings, friends and relatives remembered a man who gave everything his
all, from his days as a scrappy football player and wrestler at Maple Shade
High School to a soldier fighting for his country. Mahlenbrock, who had
joined the Army after graduating in 2002 and left for Iraq in January,
planned a career in the military.

"Devotion... was written all over David's life,"
said the Rev. Carl E. Joecks, church pastor.

But Mahlenbrock, Joecks said, was most devoted
to his wife, whom he met at age 14 and married last year. When she took
a job at one point at the Bed Bath & Beyond in Cherry Hill, Mahlenbrock
would walk or jog the seven-mile round trip just to be with her on her
30-minute lunch break.

When Mahlenbrock became a father in late September,
he threw himself into that role with equal passion. When he returned home
on leave to see Kadence, then about a week old, he couldn't put her down,
Joecks said.

"He threw a lifetime of fatherly love into
that two-week leave," the pastor said.

Mahlenbrock would never get to meet his half-brother,
Darek, born three weeks ago.

Mahlenbrock always had an affect on those who
met him, family and friends said. He would do crazy things just to get
someone to crack a smile, Joecks said.

"I see the world in a different way," said
Mahlenbrock's father, Russell, choking up at the microphone. "David has
changed me from the inside out."

Christopher Mahlenbrock urged the teary crowd
to spend time with their families at Christmas, let them know they are
loved. "Because you don't know when they will leave, when they will be
taken away from you," he said.

David Mahlenbrock knew the possibility of death
was real. He wrote the July letter to his squad mates after a scare involving
an explosive.

"If you are reading this, then I've died for
our country," he wrote in the letter, supplied by Soldiers' Angels, a nonprofit
organization devoted to providing aid and comfort to soldiers and their
families. "I just hope it wasn't for nothing."

In it, he asked that his wife get a few special
items, including a dog tag with the couple's picture and an American flag
he kept in his left breast pocket. And he asked that "American Soldier"
be played at his funeral.

It was a request taken seriously by Soldiers'
Angels, which tried but failed to get country crooner Keith to sing at
the service. Instead, it put out the word to radio stations across the
country to play the song at 1 p.m. EST tomorrow, the day Mahlenbrock will
be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

"If you can't get to a radio station, then
play it or sing it," said Patti Bader, founder of the group. "If all of
America plays that song, that's what he wanted."

He also wanted bagpipes, which accompanied
his casket as it was carried out of the church.

After the ceremony, Christopher Mahlenbrock,
who works funeral honors detail as a reservist with the 656th Area Support
Group in Willow Grove, led a salute to his brother. A white-gloved hand
raised to his temple, he solemnly stood as the silver hearse carrying the
casket drove away.

Burying a brother would be enough to scare
many away from a wartime tour. But Mahlenbrock's brothers are even more
resolute about pursuing careers in the military.

"I don't want to go over there. No one wants
to go over there," Christopher Mahlenbrock said. "But I feel it's my duty
to go, to understand what my brother went through."

Andrew said he still planned to serve four
years in the Army, Navy or Air Force, then go to college and join the reserve.

"I feel even more now that I should go into
it, do my duty... and get some payback," he said.

In his death, Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock
taught his family, friends and a small blue-collar town some life lessons.

Love, sacrifice, and faith were some of the
lessons mentioned Monday as hundreds gathered inside Holy Trinity Lutheran
Church to honor Mahlenbrock, a 20-year-old combat engineer who died with
two other soldiers Dec. 3 when a car bomb exploded near Kirkuk, Iraq.

As Mahlenbrock's 11-week-old daughter cried
and cooed inside the church, his father Russell spoke of how his son has
humbled him.

"He has changed me," said Russell Mahlenbrock.
"He is the teacher now and I am the student."

Mahlenbrock, a former football player and wrestler
at Maple Shade High School, was the 10th soldier with ties to South Jersey
to be killed in the war on terror.

His brother, Chris Mahlenbrock, a 21-year-old
Army reservist, spoke of his brother's faith.

"He had more faith than anyone else I know,"
said Chris Mahlenbrock, standing in full uniform at the church podium.
"He believed in what he was doing."

Mahlenbrock's love for his wife, Melissa, and
daughter, Kadence, however, was stronger than anything else in his life,
said Pastor Carl Joecks.

"His heart was her own," said Joecks of the
high-school sweethearts.

Mahlenbrock met his daughter for the first
time while home on leave in October. In that short amount of time, he tried
to cram in a lifetime's worth of memories and experiences with her, including
going to the zoo and making DVDs of himself reading stories, Joecks said.

"It was almost as if he had a sense," said
Joecks as many in the church sobbed.

"He couldn't stop holding her."

Just a block from the heart of downtown Maple
Shade, the pain in the small church was felt by the entire town, Joecks
said, but those same mourners could use Mahlenbrock's life as inspiration.

"His life speaks more clearly than any sermon,"
said Joecks.

Senator Jon Corzine, D-New Jersey, was one
of many lawmakers at Mahlenbrock's funeral.

"He is a true hero to all of you," Corzine
told the mourners. "He is a true American hero."

Chris Mahlenbrock said he will honorably serve
his country if called to duty in Iraq.

"I know what could happen. I won't hesitate,"
said the eldest Mahlenbrock, standing outside the church.

Another brother, Andrew Mahlenbrock, 16, also
plans to enlist in the Army.

As a blustery wind carried the sound of bagpipes
outside, a single tear dropped down the weathered face of Owen Vandvelt.

Vandvelt, a pallbearer and World War II veteran,
was saddened by the loss of such a young life.

"We thought we were fighting then to prevent
more wars in the future," said Vandvelt, 80. "It really makes you wonder
if anyone really wants peace in this world."

Mahlenbrock will be buried at Arlington National
Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday morning.

HOW TO HELP

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to
the David Mahlenbrock Memorial Fund, c/o Maple Shade High School, 180 Frederick
Ave., Maple Shade 08052.

Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock was introduced
to his newborn daughter Kadence in September during a visit home to his
native Maple Shade, New Jersey.

Family members said the combat engineer did
his best to make the short visit with his firstborn memorable, taking her
to the zoo and making several DVDs of himself reading bedtime stories,
according to news reports.

Dozens
gathered to mourn Army Specialist David Mahlenbrock of New Jersey at Arlington
National Cemetery. (Michael Robinson-chavez -- The Washington Post)

The DVDs will now endure as a precious memory
for the 2-month-old, whose father was buried yesterday at Arlington National
Cemetery. Mahlenbrock, 20, was killed December 3, 2004, in Kirkuk, Iraq.
He was clearing a route when a bomb planted by insurgents detonated. Two
other soldiers were injured in the attack.

Yesterday, Mahlenbrock's 19-year-old wife,
Melissa, and his father, Russell Mahlenbrock, were joined graveside by
dozens of fellow mourners, among them Secretary of the Army Francis J.
Harvey. Mahlenbrock's mother died two years ago.

He was the 106th service member killed in Iraq
to be buried at Arlington.

"Today we come to lay to rest a true patriot,"
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Kerr , an Army chaplain, told those gathered
at Mahlenbrock's grave, braced against the winter cold. "We are thankful
for his service to our nation. . . . There are no words that can take away
our pain for a brother in arms that has fallen in battle."

Mahlenbrock, who was assigned to the 65th Engineer
Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light) at the Schofield Barracks in
Hawaii, joined the Army in 2002 after graduating from high school. He was
deployed to Iraq in January and had been overseas for nearly a year.

Mahlenbrock and his wife were just 9 years
old when they met in grade school in Maple Shade, according to news reports.
By the time they were 14, Melissa told friends they were destined to be
together, telling her mother, "I'm going to marry him," according to wire
service reports.

Friends described Mahlenbrock, who was a running
back on the high school football team and captain of the school's wrestling
team, as "sweet" and "optimistic."

But after a close call on the job in Iraq,
Mahlenbrock wrote a letter to some of his buddies detailing how several
of his treasured possessions should be distributed in the event of his
death.

"If you're reading this, then I've died for
our country," he wrote. "I just hope it wasn't for nothing."

He specifically asked that his dog tags and
an American flag he kept in his pocket be given to his wife. He also asked
that the Toby Keith song "American Soldier" be played at his memorial service
at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Maple Shade.

The soldier's brother Christopher Mahlenbrock,
21, an Army reservist, was among the family members who spoke Monday at
the service, urging those gathered to be close to their loved ones this
holiday season. "You don't know when they will leave, when they will be
taken away from you," he said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Yesterday, the Army gave Mahlenbrock's family
the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart he had been awarded posthumously.

Mourners left the cemetery to the sound of
a bagpipe and the strains of "Amazing Grace."

Army
Specialist David Paul Mahlenbrock's casket is carried to his grave site
on Wednesday.

As his 19-year-old widow, next-of-kin
and friends looked on, Army Specialist David Paul Mahlenbrock took his
place Wednesday among the nation's fallen war heroes, with his burial at
the stately Arlington National Cemetery.

Mahlenbrock, of Maple Shade, a combat engineer
who cleared routes and swept for mines, was killed with two other soldiers
December 3, 2004, when a car bomb exploded in Kirkuk, Iraq, north of Baghdad.

Army chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Kerr
described Mahlenbrock, 20, as "a young man who answered the call of his
nation . . . to defend freedom. We are here to thank him for his service
to the nation. We honor him today for his sacrifice."

Kerr shared the Bible's hope for a resurrection
and talked about how Mahlenbrock felt the presence and pressure of the
enemy, just as Israelite King David did.

"I thought it was most amazing ceremony and
I thought my husband got everything that he deserved," said his widow,
Melissa Mahlenbrock.

"I really feel honored to be able to have my
husband there. He got buried in the section for all active-duty soldiers
who have passed. So, he's next to all his brothers . . . and I think that's
very beautiful," she said.

About three dozen family and friends attended
the graveside service on a cold and windy morning. Neatly lined rows of
white marble headstones provided a solemn backdrop.

Six pall bearers carried the flag-draped casket
from a hearse to the grave site. Mahlenbrock's widow, his father, Russell,
and other relatives sat in chairs draped with emerald green velvet during
the 15-minute ceremony.

On bended knee, Major General James A. Cheatham
presented two American flags to Mahlenbrock's widow and father. Later,
Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey gently touched them both on the
knee as he passed by.

At the end of the ceremony, a seven-member
firing party fired three volleys into the air, and a lone bugler played
"Taps."

Gary Cundiff of the Cherry Hill police department,
played "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes after the family received a card of
condolence, which was a message expressing sympathy for their loss, from
the Army's chief of staff.

Mahlenbrock was awarded posthumously the Bronze
Star for heroic or meritorious service and the Purple Heart Medal for being
wounded in combat.

Mahlenbrock was a former football running back
and wrestling captain at Maple Shade High School, where he graduated in
June 2002. He was the 10th soldier with ties to South Jersey to be killed
in the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He married his high school sweetheart, whom
he met when he was 9, and they have an 11-week-old girl, Kadence, whom
he saw for the first time when he visited home on leave in October.